


Moving on without me

by thedollars666



Series: coming together [16]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-20 01:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9470120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedollars666/pseuds/thedollars666
Summary: Following after the car crash, Jack tries one more time to get Daniel back.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not overly good at describing medical situations, I hope I did ok

His eyes flickered open and saw flashing blue lights, the next thing, he heard distant voices. At least to him they sounded distant, his hearing was muffled; though when they began cutting him out of the wreckage that was his car, he could quite clearly hear his own voice. At least his vocal cords weren't damaged at all, if the hoarse pained yelps were anything to go by. 

It had stopped snowing by now, but the thick layer of snow on the roads made it hard to move around.

“Sir? Can you hear me?” someone said from above him, they checked his pupils, he must have tried to pull away because they then said “Don't move, you were in a car accident” car accident? Daniel tensed, clenching his eyes tightly; trying to remember. Car accident.....right. The group of medics worked swiftly on getting Daniel the care he needed, he cried out softly as they placed him on a stretcher and carried him into the waiting ambulance. “Can you tell me your name?” Daniel tried to talk, instead he coughed and blood trickled down his mouth. “He could have internal bleeding somewhere, his legs seem fine, but I don't like the distention I can feel in his abdomen. They'll know more once we get him to the hospital”

“Sir!” a female paramedic called as she ran toward the ambulance. “I found this” she said as she placed a black wallet in the male paramedic's hand. 

“Nice spot” he pulled out, first Daniel's driving license, next came his identification card from the military that stated his career information. He also pulled out a white card with first contact details on it. “Good, at least we don't have a John Doe” the man went back to Daniel, checking his pulse and his upper body once more. There was another male paramedic inside the van with him, he worked on getting Daniel on some pain relief and an I.V bag. The other female ran around to the front and quickly got into the driving seat as the back doors were closed. Just as they were pulling away, another two ambulance vans showed up; as far as they could tell nobody else had been badly hurt; Daniel's car, thankfully, had been the only one over turned. But it was better to check everyone involved at the scene. They had noticed the truck that had skidded at an angle, a few other cars were in park, scattered about, one of them had made the call in. 

“Doctor Jackson? Can you hear me?” The first paramedic, Mike, said as he checked Daniel's pupils again, trying to gauge a reaction. 

“Daniel....” was all he could say, it hurt too much to talk 

“Can you remember what happened?”

Daniel's eyes closed, he was barely able to stay conscious “Wipers....ice....truck”

“Your car overturned, we're heading for the hospital, you just stay with us ok?”

“Mmm....”

“ETA ten minutes Mike, we gotta be careful, the roads aren't good”

“Damn gritters”

Jack sighed, he'd really screwed up; he leaned against the window, looking out into the darkness, at the snow covered ground. He and Daniel were over, were actually over this time; his heart ached painfully, he'd just lost the one person that truly loved him; and god how he had loved him in return. But what had he done? Jack clenched a fist, he was so angry with himself. Daniel wouldn't even hear him out, despite telling him the truth, but who could blame him?

Jack hadn't stopped staring out the window, a small glass of brandy in his hand; the only light in the room was the faint glow emitting from the fire. It seemed ridiculous, but somewhere in his mind, Jack was just hoping that maybe Daniel was going to park back up in the drive way, yell at him some more, then forgive him and they'd make it right. He sighed again. He knew that wouldn't happen. Daniel was beyond forgiving him, Jack could still see the painful hurt on his face as he was told the truth. Still see his tear stained face as Daniel stormed out of the door, out of his life forever.

His cell phone suddenly rang, what an odd time; Jack looked at the clock on the wall, it was way past eleven. He suddenly got a bad feeling, nobody ever rang at this sort of time unless it was an emergency. His hope sprang up a little, maybe it was Daniel, maybe he was calling to talk? Jack grabbed his phone from the side table, his hope died as an unrecognizable number flashed up. He hit the answer button, still having a bad feeling. “O'Neill” he frowned as a male spoke the other end, he didn't recognize the voice either. “Yes-he-what?- is he ok? How long- ok, no I- yeh- I'll be right there, thanks...” Jack hung up, his body going numb, his face stricken with panic, oh god...Daniel. Jack doused the fire quickly, grabbed his keys and flew out of the door, his hands shaking as he locked it. Jack jumped into his car and backed out of the driveway non too gracefully. He had to calm down, he couldn't risk himself getting into an accident too. 

When he got on the main road, he was waved to a stop by a policeman. There were road lights across the road, two police cars parked near them. Jack's heart leapt, he didn't want to, but his eyes glanced to his left; he didn't want to believe it, but he knew that the car he saw then, the one that was overturned and wrecked, he knew it was Daniel's. Jack felt a surge of panic once more, he wanted desperately to be at Daniel's side; just how badly had he been hurt? 

Jack opened the window as the policeman came toward him. “Sorry sir, you can't come down right now; the road is blocked until we can clear the way” Jack could just about see the toll truck drawing up toward them. “I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air-force. My friend was involved in the accident, I just received a call from the hospital, I'm his emergency contact”

The policeman could see the worry in Jack's eyes, he sighed then “Show me your ID” Jack fished out his ID card from the glove compartment and handed it to the man. “It's against protocol, I shouldn't let you pass” in a frightful moment, Jack thought he wasn't going to be allowed access. “I was told there was at least one person that had been badly injured, I don't know, it might not be your friend”

“They wouldn't have contacted me otherwise, he's obviously unable to do so himself, please let me pass; I will pull military stats if I have to”

“I had a friend who was badly injured in a car crash once. I know the worry you must feel; I'm gonna let you pass this once”

“Thank you, you're a good man”

“I hope your friend is ok”

“Me too, thanks”

Jack closed his window back up as the policeman signaled for his team to move the barriers. Jack waved as he passed them and continued on his way, his gut clenching with every second. 

Jack ran into the hospital building, his heart thudding painfully against his ribs as he reached the reception desk. He was lucky he got here in one piece. “My friend was brought here about an hour ago, he was in a car accident” Jack breathlessly relayed the information to the young female receptionist. 

“Name sir?”

“Doctor Jackson, Doctor Daniel Jackson”

“One moment please” she turned to the computer at the side of her, it felt like a lifetime to Jack, what the hell was taking so long? “Yes, here we go; his room is on the second floor, room 2B”

“Thanks. Um...is he, do you know if he's ok?”

“A Doctor is with him now, he'll give you all the information you need”

“Sure. Thanks” yeh right, damn it he hated hospitals. He gave the woman a tight smile and then rushed off to find Daniel. 

A Doctor was just coming out of one of the rooms as Jack was coming up the corridor. The Doctor looked up, he was roughly in his early forties, Jack could tell he had at least twenty years under his belt. “You must be Colonel O'Neill” the man said as Jack stopped in front of him. “We spoke on the phone, I'm Doctor Peters”

“How is he? Is he ok?”

“He's damn lucky, there was no internal bleeding, so there was no need to operate. There is a fair bit of bruising around his abdomen though, he sustained a few broken ribs and a slight swelling on his chest. As I understand it, from what he's been able to tell me, his wipers jammed up and the heavy snow caused him to swerve to the other side of the road and his car skidded on the ice and overturned after skimming the side of a truck”

“Christ” Jack scrubbed a hand over his face, covering his mouth from shock, it was all different again when you heard the details. He'd been going over in his head what had happened, nothing ever prepared you for when you did hear it. “Can I see him?”

“I've put him on a drip, given him a strong dose of morphine for the pain. He's resting comfortably at the moment; hit the button on the wall if you need me. But I'll be back to check in on him in an hour once I've done my rounds”

“Thank you Doc”

“Don't expect much, he'll be pretty out of it. And don't be alarmed by the oxygen mask, its just to help him while his ribs heal, he's breathing on his own”

Jack nodded, he watched the Doctor walk away and then took a deep breath before walking into the room. Daniel was hooked up to wires, he could see the heart monitor recording his progress, standard procedure, Jack thought to himself to reassure his mind. He shut the door quietly and slowly made his way toward the bedside. He looked down at the archaeologist, Daniel always looked much younger when he was like this. Jack could see a few grazes across his cheek, a large gash on his forehead that had been stitched. But the extent of his injuries were covered by the bed sheets. The Doctor had said he was ok, nothing too serious, at least not life threatening. Somehow though, it didn't seem to count, he felt as if Janet should be telling him. He might have felt reassured, but he could imagine it, her heels clicking about the room as she checked her patient over; making sure Daniel was taken care of. Maybe she was, maybe she was here in the room; watching over him like she always did when Daniel had gotten himself hurt. 

Jack shook himself out of his thoughts, for a moment, he just watched Daniel's chest rise and fall. He was focused on that, reassuring himself that Daniel was ok, he was breathing, he was alive. Jack could still see the faint cut on his lip, from where he had hit him. Guilt crashed down on him again. “None of this would have happened if it weren't for me” Jack very gently reached down and held Daniel's hand. “I'm so sorry” Jack leaned over and placed a light kiss on his forehead. Jack took a seat in the chair beside the bed, not letting go of Daniel's hand. He would wait until Daniel woke up, before making a call to the SGC, of course he would have to let the others know what had happened. At least about the accident anyway. 

Jack was just dozing off when he felt a hand twitch against his. Jack looked up into half lidded blue eyes. “Hey....”

“Jack...?”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you....”

“S'kay....”

“Doctor tells me you'll be all right. There's nothing they're concerned with”

“Mmm.....hurts a little”

“He said he's given you some strong morphine; I imagine that'll kick in in a few minutes”

“K....”

“Look...er, I know you probably don't wanna see me right now. But, well, I was down as your emergency contact so...”

“Yeh...., can't help that”

“I wasn't about to let you be here alone, even if we're not-”

“I appreciate it....I do” Daniel wasn't really in the mood to tell him otherwise, he was just glad he had someone with him. Even if that person was Jack, despite what had happened, he still cared enough to want him here. 

“Why don't you get some more rest, I've got a phone call to make; but I'll be here”

Daniel managed a nod, Jack got up and headed for the door; he turned around when Daniel said “Jack?”

“Yeh?”

Daniel was about to say something, but he relented “It can wait. Make your call”

“I'll be back”

“K” no sooner did Jack leave, Daniel was asleep again; he was so exhausted, his body hurt despite the morphine; but he wasn't just physically hurting. The painful events of the last few hours played over in his mind as he slept. 

A week had past since the accident, Daniel had had many visitors; Sam, Teal'c and even Hammond had come to make sure he was ok. Jack however, visited regularly; every-day. At first Daniel wasn't bothered, he was too drug minded to really care. But Jack being there for him didn't mend what he'd done, Daniel just couldn't find it in himself to forgive him. Every time he looked at Jack now, all he saw was another woman kissing him. 

Jack came into the room that afternoon, with a fresh bag of cookies, chocolate walnut of course. Daniel was sat up in bed, he didn't need the oxygen mask much anymore, only used it occasionally at night. Daniel watched Jack with an intense stare as he placed the cookies on the table. Jack turned to him with a smile, he held Daniel's hand then. “How are you today?”

“Jack-”

“You look better then you did yesterday” Jack didn't realize, but he had said that every day he came to see him. 

“Jack, what are you doing?” Daniel needed to stop this, he needed to set Jack's mind straight. 

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean, please don't make this harder then it already is”

“Daniel- I thought-”

Daniel moved his hand out of Jack's “I can't forgive you Jack, I don't know if that's what you've been thinking this past week. But it's not fair to let you come here under the impression that I have”

“Just- give it some more time, we can work it out”

“I meant what I said before. It's over Jack, please understand, because my heart can't take this much more; the accident doesn't change anything”

“You scared the crap out of me Daniel! I thought-”

“I know, I'm sorry, and I do appreciate you being here, I really do, but that's it; it's not any kind of sign that things are just going to go back to normal”

Jack froze then, in that one instant he knew he had truly lost Daniel for good. “It's really over”

Daniel swallowed the lump in his throat, tears springing to his eyes; Jack's own glistening back at him. “I'm sorry Jack...” Daniel's fingers reached out but Jack stepped back. 

“Goodbye.....Daniel, I'm so sorry - about everything” Daniel's heart wrenched as he watched the second person he ever loved walk out of his life. Sha're had been the first, killed by a staff blast in front of him; now Jack. Jack had been it, Daniel was sure of it; the only other one Daniel would truly love. Had he given up on them too soon? It didn't matter now, the damage was done; it hurt too much to even try. 

“Me too....” Daniel said as he wept alone in the room. 

 

Two weeks later, Daniel had been discharged from the hospital. Sam had helped him and given him a lift home; she briefly questioned why Jack hadn't been the one to do it; not that she minded, she and Teal'c had been worried out of their minds when they got the phone call, Teal'c of course hid it better then she did.  But when it came to Daniel, Jack always took care of him, took him home, helped him until he got back on his feet. Daniel came up with an excuse for his absence, stating that Jack was a general now; he was tied up in work. Daniel didn't think Sam believed his statement; and if she didn't, she didn't let on.

There was a knock on the door, Daniel was in the kitchen, grey shorts and a light baggy white top. His hair tousled at all ends, he slightly winced when he stretched up to get the coffee grounds from the top shelf of a cupboard. His chest and abdomen only slightly tender now, it didn't give him much trouble or discomfort as before; but sometimes, like right now, it was still slightly irritable. Which was exactly why he wasn't allowed back to work yet, but that didn't mean that he couldn't help; he used his laptop to work on translations and other information that was emailed to him every other day. It kept him busy. The knock came again, and Daniel's plan to ignore it became futile. He left the coffee grounding and padded bare footed across the floor to the door of his newest apartment; he had liked his old apartment, after he come back from pre ascension again, and after the fallout with Jack, he started browsing for apartments while in the hospital; since he didn't have much else to do. It helped him to keep his mind off the break up. So with the quick help of the air-force and Sam and Teal'c, his lease was signed and by the time he got out, all of his stuff had been shipped to his new place. There was boxes still in the corner of the living area; mostly the heavier stuff, since he couldn't lift much yet. Not to mention he was under strict orders not to. 

He opened the door and was unprepared for who he saw there. Jack. He hadn't seen him since They had truly ended things, that was almost two and a half weeks ago. Why was he here now? Daniel noted the small box in his hands and simply stared at him.

"Hey, I um, I was clearing some stuff out; you know, the cabin. Not gonna get to go there much now so-"Ah, yes. Sam had informed him that Jack had taken up a job in Washington, he wasn't in command of the SGC anymore. That hurt Daniel more then it should have; he should have been relieved to have some distance put between them. Maybe Jack moving on just made things that much more final. He was only just starting to get over it. "I figured since I won't be around, you might want your stuff back, whatever you had there. I'll try and get any clothes  you had to you, as soon as I can" Jack was being rather calm about this. Daniel didn't have much experience with relationships; but he did know the protocols of a break up, the return of ones stuff from the others house, or in this case, the cabin. 

"Thanks. Um" Jack watched Daniel look over his shoulder a moment before then saying "Could you bring it inside? I'm not allowed to lift much"

Jack hesitated at first, then with a small smile that still made Daniel's heart lift, if only a little; he said "Sure. No problem” Daniel stepped aside to let Jack in and then shut the door. Jack noted the other boxes in the corner and added the box to them. He watched the man take a gander around; Jack hadn't seen his place yet. "Nice place"

"I did always prefer apartments"

"Sorry I didn't come by sooner; I assumed you got home ok"

"I did, Sam brought me home; she and Teal'c have been a big help. I know you were busy; what with preparing for Washington and all; congratulations by the way"

"About that, I would have told you in person, it's just that it kind of happened a bit fast; I figured it was the best thing to do; to take the job I mean, with what happened between us"

"You don't have to explain yourself. I understand. Do you know whose replacing you?"

"A General Landry, good man"

"Heard about Sam?"

"She told me a few days ago. Said something about being closer to Cassie"

Daniel was sour about Sam leaving for Nevada, it just didn't feel right that she was leaving. "Seems like everyone is going their separate ways now. SG1- that is"

"Yeh, things have changed. Are changing still, the SGC isn't the only big picture anymore"

"Guess not. At least, not in the governments eyes"

Silence between them began to form, Jack always hated that. "You look-well" good, he wanted to say good. But he couldn't. 

"I am, still a little tender every now and then, but I'm doing ok" Daniel smiled a little "You look good too, Jack" Daniel had read the hidden meaning behind Jack's words.

Jack returned the smile; "Thanks, not sure I'm looking forward to being constantly in dress blues, but you know, not much of a choice this time"

"I'm sure you'll cope. You always do"

"I do" Jack's smile became sad "I just wanted to drop by, despite what's happened, I couldn't leave without saying goodbye"

"I don't regret anything, not us"

"I'll always regret something"

Daniel almost winced "I know"

Jack nodded, "But not us. Never us"

Daniel smiled and was about to say something  else when someone emerged from his bathroom "Daniel, I couldn't find my toothbrush, do you have any sp-" Jack turned toward the stranger, Daniel didn't know what to do. His eyes flicked between the two. He watched Jack's face go from surprise to something that looked like a cross between jealousy and anger. "Jack, this is Jake, I met him a few years back. At that bar, you know, with the fight and everything"

Jake looked surprised "Jack? Thee Jack?"

"Heard of me have ya?"

Daniel grimaced at his tone; he was getting snarky, he could tell Jack was pissed. "Um, I'll just-go back" Jake pointed his thumb to the bathroom 

"There's a spare toothbrush in the bottom cupboard under the sink" Daniel told him, Jake smiled and then retreated awkwardly back into the bathroom. Jack turned to him, scowling. "Jack-"

"Well, that didn't take you long"

"Jack don't be that way"

"What am I meant to say? We've been separated three weeks and you're already screwing someone else"

"Its not like that. I already know him, it's not like he's a stranger. He was visiting his brother at the hospital, I was walking around; my daily exercise to keep the Doctor happy. We ran into each other. Got talking"

"I can't believe you. We had a six year relationship; three weeks and I already find you-"

"You cheated on me Jack! That kind of makes it easier to get over you!" The words left his mouth before he could think. For a brief moment, Daniel thought Jack was going to deck him again. He instinctively took a step back, Jack made no move; though he felt guilty for even making Daniel think that. "The way you were just now, I thought we were past the awkwardness, I thought you might have been a little happy for me"

"I guess it's taking me a little longer. I should have just called, shouldn't have come over. See ya around, Daniel"

"Jack-" Jack was out the door before he had a chance to say anything else. Daniel saw the hurt in his eyes; he hadn't realized how much Jack was still holding on. 

Daniel turned when Jake came back out. He stopped In front of him and wrapped his arms around his neck. "I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was out here" Daniel turned in Jake's embrace so they were face to face. 

"Not your fault" Daniel kissed him warmly, Jake leaned into it and ran his hands up the back of Daniel's bed shirt. "Mmmm..."

"Daniel..." Jake arched up when Daniel slipped his tongue inside.

"Let's take this into the shower..."

Jake smiled against his lips, "Love to"

"Go in, I'll be there in a minute"

Jake kissed him again and then left in a quick retreat. Daniel glanced at the closed door. He hadn't meant to hurt Jack, he was past being angry at him; but it seemed Jack was still raw. He shouldn't have seen that, Daniel didn't want him to see that. "I'm sorry Jack"

Daniel was typing away at his computer; Damn that Vala, he'd missed the chance of a lifetime because of her. Her and her stupid bracelets and treasure hunting crap. At least it hadn't all been a waste, they did discover some pretty interesting stuff, Merlin; for one. Well, not in the flesh; but Daniel was still pretty buzzing about it all. Despite his anger. Then there was the Ori, the new threat to their world. Daniel wasn't sure how he felt about that.

A hand then pat down on his stack of books. As he looked up, he almost fell off his chair. "Wow, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too" Jack said

Daniel still looked surprised "Sorry, I'm just surprised to see you here" Daniel got up and walked around his desk

"I was in the neighborhood; thought I'd stop by-and I have a little surprise for Mitchell"

"Oh yeah, He really loved the last one, the fact you didn't tell him we were all moving on to different positions"

"Yeah, sorry you missed the Daedalus"

"No You're not"

"You're right, I'm not. Listen, I just had a briefing with Landry about your....stuff"

"Yeaaaah"

"Sounds like it could be a problem?"

"Well, we've been up against some pretty bad guys before"

"Yeah, not so pretty. Overdressed maybe"

"Some tough situations"

"That we always won"

"Yeah, but didn't you feel that was because we had someone ... lookin' out for us? I don't think I would say this to anyone else, but for the first time, I'm scared.....I'm scared Jack"

"I'm hungry?" He wanted to say much more then that. He wanted to embrace him; to tell him it was going to be ok.

Daniel looked up, even having Jack there was enough to ease his fears. "Me too"

"Do you wanna go grab something? Just friends"

"Yeah. I'd like that"

"Listen I'm sorry about the way I acted before. How is Jake?" Daniel could tell Jack didn't really care

"It didn't work out. We're friends, but there's nothing more. When you showed up, I guess I realized that I wasn't quite ready for a relationship again either"

"Sorry"

"No its ok. Besides, it wouldn't have worked with me going to Atlantis anyway"

"That would be taking a long distant relationship to a whole new level wouldn't it?"

Daniel laughed, he hadn't done that in a while. "I suppose it would" 

"Things will be ok you know."

"I know"

"I wasn't talking about with us, you always find a way to beat them, its what we do"

Daniel smiled "Yeah" 

"Now come on, I got a hankering for a steak"

He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling everything would be ok. If him and Jack could remain friends after what had happened, anything was possible. He looked at Jack walking beside him, no matter what happens, Jack was always going to be there for him, and Daniel didn't mind if that was only to be his friend, he would rather that then nothing. 


End file.
